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Annual Meetings

Annual Meetings: History and Highlights

The first "Annual GLOBE Conference" was held in 1996 in Virginia, USA. Since then, there have been meetings held nearly every year, including virtual meetings during the first three years of the COVID pandemic. After the 12th conference, the events were renamed "Annual Meetings."

Learn more about each GLOBE Annual Meeting.

2023

2023 Meeting Highlights


In 2023, GLOBE held its first in-person annual meeting since 2019, with community members from around the world coming together in Colorado, USA.

Meeting participants explored several strands of the theme, "GLOBE Science Opens Global Benefits." including:

  • In and Beyond Classrooms: How educators and students use GLOBE data in classrooms, and how that data can lead to change outside of schools.
  • Mobilizing Beyond Borders: A focus on the diversity of the GLOBE community, exploring how such diversity benefits both the research and GLOBE members.
  • Mapping Beyond Dots: Discover how researchers can tell a story through their data and visualizations.
  • Benefits for the Environment and Society: Examine how connections built among members and groups outside of GLOBE can change both the research and the researchers themselves.

Attendees explored the Denver area through various learning activities, including a tour of the largest solar array in the city, a visit to the famous NCAR Mesa Lab and a volunteering opportunity to clean up Cherry Creek.

Watch the 2023 Annual Meeting Week in Review film.

past

Previous Meetings

For more information about these past events, including requests for documents or photos, contact GLOBE Support.

26th annual meeting 2022: Communicating GLOBE in Changing Times (Virtual)
In the last of three virtual meetings held due to COVID, members discussed various ways the program can better reach out to the community and encourage discussion among members.
25th annual meeting 2021: Adapting to a Changing GLOBE (Virtual)
In another virtual meeting due to COVID, participants reflected on how GLOBE is changing to help its members meet new challenges.

24th annual meeting 2020: Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future (Virtual)
The first meeting held after the COVID public health emergency began, this virtual event included student video presentations and a discussion of diversity, equity and inclusion in GLOBE.
23rd annual meeting 2019: Intersections of Diverse Environments (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Fitting for the theme, the location for this Annual Meeting was at the intersection of multiple types of diverse environments culturally, geographically and economically.
22nd annual meeting 2018: Mountain, Woods, and Water: Developing a Sense of Place (Killarney, Ireland)
This meeting was held in conjunction with the 2018 GLOBE Learning Expedition, allowing participants to experience the theme through their explorations of Ireland.
21st annual meeting 2017: Coastal Resilience in Urban Environments (New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
This Annual Meeting, held in one of the oldest towns in the U.S., included an introduction to the GLOBE Observer app.
20th annual meeting 2016: Celebrating the GLOBE Community (Estes Park, Colorado, USA)
The 20th Annual Meeting featured learning opportunities at Rocky Mountain National Park (pdf) and commemorated the great strides of the program over its first two decades.
19th annual meeting 2015: Strengths of a GLOBE-al Community of Scientists (Los Angeles, California, USA)
At this meeting, students and teachers participated in the 3rd Annual Student Research Experience, conducted by the Wrigley Center for Environmental Studies at Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles.
18th annual meeting 2014: GLOBE for Sustainable Communities (New Delhi, India)
This meeting was held in conjunction with the 2014 GLOBE Learning Expedition, offering participants opportunities for special learning adventures.
17th annual meeting 2013: From Space to Place: From Eyes on Earth to Hands on GLOBE (Greenbelt, Maryland, USA)
Highlights from this meeting included remarks by three astronauts and record-breaking attendance from nearly 300 participants.
16th annual meeting 2012: GLOBE and STEM: Building a Global Community of Citizen Scientists (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)
This was the first meeting to include a Student Research Exhibition, providing students and teachers an opportunity to showcase their research.
15th annual meeting 2011: Expanding International Perspectives About Climate (Bethesda, Maryland, USA)
More than 180 participants from 46 countries came to this meeting, which was held outside of Washington, D.C. and focused on highlighting GLOBE's international voices.

14th annual meeting 2010: Exploring Climate through GLOBE Student Research (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
GLOBE's first meeting in Canada featured early presentations on the Student Climate Research Campaign.
13th annual meeting 2009: A Dynamic and Innovating GLOBE (Virtual)
The first GLOBE annual meeting to be held virtually included presentations and special interactive sessions.
12th annual meeting 2008: GLOBE Research for Sustainable Communities (Cape Town, South Africa)
This was the first of several meetings that have been held in conjunction with GLOBE Learning Expeditions. These events gave students the opportunity to have unique science adventures in diverse environments far from their home.
11th annual meeting 2007: Inspiring the Next Generation of Earth System Scientists (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
Highlights included a keynote address from Michael Coats, Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center, and field trips to the Guadalupe River and Natural Bridge Caverns.
Thailand 2006: The New Decade for Global Sustainable Development (Phuket, Thailand)
The first Annual Meeting in the Asia and Pacific Region was held in conjunction with a symposium on marine coastal resources (pdf) that was located at sites impacted by the 2004 tsunami.
2005: Global, Regional, Local (Prague, Czech Republic)
The first formal annual meeting held outside the USA included the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic and a keynote speech from a UNESCO official.
2004: GLOBE: The Next Ten Years (Boulder, Colorado, USA)
This meeting celebrated the first decade of GLOBE and focused on creating a vision for what the Program could become over the next decade.
  NOTE: In 2003, Instead of a traditional annual meeting/conference, GLOBE held a combined conference/learning expedition in Šibenik, Croatia.
2002: Earth Science Contributions to Global Decision Support Systems (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
The exhibitions in this meeting included electronic poster sessions on how students used GLOBE visualizations and GIS in their research.
2001: Partnership is the Hallmark of GLOBE (Blaine, Washington, USA)
One of the various GLOBE partnerships highlighted in this meeting was a collaboration among students in Norway, Czechia and Estonia (pdf).
2000: Environmental Education in the New Millennium (Annapolis, Maryland, USA)
This meeting on the Chesapeake Bay featured a traditional Maryland crab feast, as attendees discussed the use of student data in research and how to provide follow-up support for GLOBE-trained teachers.

1999: Advancing GLOBE's Goals (Durham, New Hampshire, USA)
This meeting was highlighted by a presentation of the "MUC-a-thon" project (pdf), one of the first GLOBE instensive data gathering efforts, in which New York students collected more than 900 sets of land cover data in a single day.
1998: The Continuing Growth of GLOBE (Snowmass, Colorado, USA)
Attendees celebrated the surging growth of GLOBE over the previous year, following a 40% increase in GLOBE schools, as well as several new protocols and the first GLOBE international student conference.
1997: The Partnership Between Education and Science (Airlie, Virginia, USA)
This meeting featured the debut of "GLOBE Homepage, Here We Come!" (pdf) — the first of several GLOBE songs written by community members.
1996: The First "Annual GLOBE Conference" (Airlie, Virginia, USA)
The first annual event bringing together GLOBE Partners highlighted the accomplishments of the program's first year and included discussions of its future plans.